Canadian 'Cannibal' and 'Hollywood Sign' Murder Not Connected, LA Cops Conclude
LAPD does not believe suspected cannibal Luka Magnotta is Hollywood Sign killer
June 8, 2012— -- Los Angeles police do not believe the dismemberment of a Montreal student by a Canadian "cannibal" is connected to the chopped up body found beneath the famous Hollywood sign in January, a commander told ABC News today.
L.A. cops said on Thursday they were in touch with their counterparts in Montreal looking for a possible connection between the murder of Hervey Medellin, 66, who was decapitated and his remains were scattered beneath the famous landmark, and the videotaped dismemberment of Jun Lin, 33, a Chinese student killed in May in Quebec.
Lin was allegedly killed by former porn actor Luka Magnotta, 29, who recorded himself murdering Lin with an ice pick and hacking apart the Chinese student's corpse. Magnotta then allegedly had sex with some of Lin's dismembered body parts and ate others. The man's hands and feet were mailed to two government offices and two schools.
Authorities in Los Angeles are continuing to talk with Canadian cops, but at this point do not believe the two murders are related.
"They follow up on all clues, no matter how small and tenuous," said LAPD Capt. Andrew Smith, commander of the department's public information unit.
"Our investigators are in contact with Canadian investigators and are trying to determine Magnotta's whereabouts during the time of the Hollywood Hills murder. At this time we do not believe there is a connection," he said.
Los Angeles sources believe there is a large body of evidence suggesting Medellin's murder was the result of a love-triangle. There was also a very distinct method of dismembering Medellin's body, sources told ABC News.
The evidence points to a person or persons with no known link to Magnotta, sources said.
A Facebook page in Magnotta's name, and one of many attributed to the accused killer, includes posts made in February that suggest the user was in Los Angeles working as a masseuse.
Authorities in Los Angeles say they do not believe Magnotta was in L.A. at the time of Medellin's murder.
Canadian sources, however, have yet to determine Magnotta's whereabouts at that time.